Get Harvest on Campus for My Birthday
Donation protected
Let's help a kid out today.
Quick summary (full story below):
-This is my take on the "birthday fundraiser" for my birthday on August 15th
-Harvest is my "little brother" with Big Brothers Big Sisters (11 years running)
-He's going into his Junior Year at MTSU... despite all odds (see more below)
-He lives in his family's apartment with his Mom and 3 sisters
-Harvest isn't asking for anything. This is a surprise for him (but I did ask if I could share his story online)
-He called me earlier this week and said that he really needed to move out of the apartment, but didn't know how.... So this idea was born.
-The goal is to get Harvest living on-campus to have a real college-experience
-I don't believe in handouts, but I do believe in a group of people coming together to help a hardworking kid realize his potential
-He works two jobs and goes to school - he is no slacker
-The updates will include move-in pictures, obviously.
-Harvest will be able to move-in for the Fall Semester if we can fund it, so this could come together quickly!
-Here's a link for MTSU rates for room and board . The agreement has to be for a full academic term (fall & spring semesters).
-After this year, I'll work with Harvest to work as an RA to receive free room and board or work out another way for him to stay on campus.
-Ideally this is a bunch of small donations that add up... this isn't meant to put pressure on anyone to give a big amount. Power in numbers.
We help him as much as we can, but for my birthday, I thought it was a great opportunity to show a kid that hard work pays off, and when you hold yourself accountable and put your head down, you can build an army of people that will support you.
Harvest's story:
Some of you know I've been Harvest's "big brother" with Big Brothers Big Sisters for 11 years now... so long that he's now bigger than me. We've aged out of the program, but we still hang out regularly because support and mentoring doesn't stop at 18. Two years ago, Harvest graduated from High School after a primary education that saw him change schools every year or two and lose his little brother to cerebral palsy (many of you donated to the cost of the services). After all of that, he graduated and now it was time for a next step. He worked jobs through high school and it was likely he would just stay on that path..... College was something he just didn't think he could do.
We'd been having conversations about college for years, but he never believed it was in the cards for him. We put him in an ACT bootcamp for several weekends, he studied on his own and begged his mom to fill out the FAFSA (pictured above in her sweet MTSU Mom shirt)... all things high schoolers generally don't want to do. He still didn't think he could do it.
With multiple learning disorders, he pushed through and got passed the ACT threshold for the Tennessee HOPE scholarship. We filled out the necessary applications to get to MTSU which is just a mile and half from his family's apartment in Murfreesboro, but he STILL didn't think he could do it.
He was put on a waiting list in June of 2018 for entry into the 2018 fall semester. He was shocked, but he still didn't think he could do it. He was offered a spot in late June but responded to the offer to enroll with an email that he didn't consult me on... "I cannot come now due to lack of funds". I only realized he responded that way after we met up again in July. He REALLY didn't think he could do it.. and that was pretty heartbreaking.
My good friend, Joe, is a teacher and had helped many students facilitate entry into college, many of them from low-income or no-income situations. Ultimately, with Joe's help over pizza on August 4th, 2018, we devised a plan to get Harvest into MTSU that semester with limited cost. He was in his first college class on August 27th, 2018. Maybe he COULD do it.
First day of College - August 2018:
Fast forward through some adjusting, learning how to self-motivate, stay organized, and deal with everything good and bad that college has to offer and he is coming off of his best semester with a 3.5 GPA. Trust me.. he needed that. All of a sudden, he had proof that he could do it and it changed everything.
He's worked throughout his college experience (often two jobs) to pay for things you or I never had to worry about. He works the night-shift (1 am to 9 am) at FedEx (through the pandemic) and goes to class from there. He works at Trash Butlers in Nashville the other nights. He's not only trying, he's working harder than most people I know... and he's never mentioned dropping out. I love it.
We help him as much as we can, but for my birthday, I thought it was a great opportunity to show a kid that hard work pays off, and when you hold yourself accountable and put your head down, you can build an army of people that will support you.
I took him to his first day of class after Waffle House (picture above). I've sat in the MTSU library at just before a midnight deadline proofreading a paper with him still in his Church clothes. This kid works HARD. And that's all you can really ask for. When you see someone who wants it, has nothing handed to him, and works to make something happen, it only makes you want to help them out more.
In 2019, Harvest made a $50 donation back to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee at their annual luncheon. Awesome full-circle moment.
Quick summary (full story below):
-This is my take on the "birthday fundraiser" for my birthday on August 15th
-Harvest is my "little brother" with Big Brothers Big Sisters (11 years running)
-He's going into his Junior Year at MTSU... despite all odds (see more below)
-He lives in his family's apartment with his Mom and 3 sisters
-Harvest isn't asking for anything. This is a surprise for him (but I did ask if I could share his story online)
-He called me earlier this week and said that he really needed to move out of the apartment, but didn't know how.... So this idea was born.
-The goal is to get Harvest living on-campus to have a real college-experience
-I don't believe in handouts, but I do believe in a group of people coming together to help a hardworking kid realize his potential
-He works two jobs and goes to school - he is no slacker
-The updates will include move-in pictures, obviously.
-Harvest will be able to move-in for the Fall Semester if we can fund it, so this could come together quickly!
-Here's a link for MTSU rates for room and board . The agreement has to be for a full academic term (fall & spring semesters).
-After this year, I'll work with Harvest to work as an RA to receive free room and board or work out another way for him to stay on campus.
-Ideally this is a bunch of small donations that add up... this isn't meant to put pressure on anyone to give a big amount. Power in numbers.
We help him as much as we can, but for my birthday, I thought it was a great opportunity to show a kid that hard work pays off, and when you hold yourself accountable and put your head down, you can build an army of people that will support you.
Harvest's story:
Some of you know I've been Harvest's "big brother" with Big Brothers Big Sisters for 11 years now... so long that he's now bigger than me. We've aged out of the program, but we still hang out regularly because support and mentoring doesn't stop at 18. Two years ago, Harvest graduated from High School after a primary education that saw him change schools every year or two and lose his little brother to cerebral palsy (many of you donated to the cost of the services). After all of that, he graduated and now it was time for a next step. He worked jobs through high school and it was likely he would just stay on that path..... College was something he just didn't think he could do.
We'd been having conversations about college for years, but he never believed it was in the cards for him. We put him in an ACT bootcamp for several weekends, he studied on his own and begged his mom to fill out the FAFSA (pictured above in her sweet MTSU Mom shirt)... all things high schoolers generally don't want to do. He still didn't think he could do it.
With multiple learning disorders, he pushed through and got passed the ACT threshold for the Tennessee HOPE scholarship. We filled out the necessary applications to get to MTSU which is just a mile and half from his family's apartment in Murfreesboro, but he STILL didn't think he could do it.
He was put on a waiting list in June of 2018 for entry into the 2018 fall semester. He was shocked, but he still didn't think he could do it. He was offered a spot in late June but responded to the offer to enroll with an email that he didn't consult me on... "I cannot come now due to lack of funds". I only realized he responded that way after we met up again in July. He REALLY didn't think he could do it.. and that was pretty heartbreaking.
My good friend, Joe, is a teacher and had helped many students facilitate entry into college, many of them from low-income or no-income situations. Ultimately, with Joe's help over pizza on August 4th, 2018, we devised a plan to get Harvest into MTSU that semester with limited cost. He was in his first college class on August 27th, 2018. Maybe he COULD do it.
First day of College - August 2018:
Fast forward through some adjusting, learning how to self-motivate, stay organized, and deal with everything good and bad that college has to offer and he is coming off of his best semester with a 3.5 GPA. Trust me.. he needed that. All of a sudden, he had proof that he could do it and it changed everything.
He's worked throughout his college experience (often two jobs) to pay for things you or I never had to worry about. He works the night-shift (1 am to 9 am) at FedEx (through the pandemic) and goes to class from there. He works at Trash Butlers in Nashville the other nights. He's not only trying, he's working harder than most people I know... and he's never mentioned dropping out. I love it.
We help him as much as we can, but for my birthday, I thought it was a great opportunity to show a kid that hard work pays off, and when you hold yourself accountable and put your head down, you can build an army of people that will support you.
I took him to his first day of class after Waffle House (picture above). I've sat in the MTSU library at just before a midnight deadline proofreading a paper with him still in his Church clothes. This kid works HARD. And that's all you can really ask for. When you see someone who wants it, has nothing handed to him, and works to make something happen, it only makes you want to help them out more.
In 2019, Harvest made a $50 donation back to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee at their annual luncheon. Awesome full-circle moment.
Organizer and beneficiary
Eric McGinnis
Organizer
Nashville, TN
Harvest Fondren Johnson
Beneficiary